Hello everyone.

We are downsizing from a 25' trailer to truck & camper to pull a boat as well. I'm most likely going to go into a 2006/07 Ford F350 single long box or the Chevy 3500 single of the same years.

Looking for a used camper, hopefully 2000-02. Models I like so far would be the Corsair 9'6, Arctic Fox 860 or 811, the Adventurer or Okanagan 90.

I've spoken to 2 people that said some newer trucks have narrowed down their boxes, in particular, the tailgate region, and some older campers aren't fitting. I'm looking for more details on this.

Have both Ford and Chev's done this? Certain models or starting in a certain model year?

I see some campers have kicked out abit to house plumbing etc in behind where the wheelwell would be and this I can see would cause possible problems. I viewed a '98 Corsair where the camper base went straight back the whole way. I'm wanting to place an offer on a '02 Arctic Fox 860 that has a small additional flare out on the driver's side at the rear.

Can anyone clear up this situation? I've yet to buy either and obviously it makes sense to have the truck first and match the camper,however, the situation may arise to do it the opposite way around.

What about trucks that have a plastic liner in them? Do these take up enough space to not allow the camper to slide into the box?

Thanks in advance for any advise.

I have a '03 Elkhorn in a GMC 2500 HD short box. My camper swells out 4" or so behind the drivers side wheel well. My box does taper in at the rear. It fits but it is tight. I just have to be careful loading & unloading the TC. Liners do take up space as well as tonneau cover brackets. I was told not to use a plastic liner as it would wiggle around a bit and polish the paint off the bed. I use a rubber mat instead with no problems. Hope this helps!

I agree on the bedliner, I would not load camper on top of bedliner,rubber mat maybe. As for the width, If it were me I would do some measuring. I would think that in order to narrow the bed width they would have to narrow the width between the wheels and I don't think they would do that. My camper is a Starcraft and it also has a "box" right behind the fender well on the driver side for the black water holding tank. When I load and unload I have to kind of "steer" around it but after doing it a few times it's just a part of the routine. I would look around and find the type of truck you want and measure the bed, especily between the wheel wells. IMO
Gary

The bed does not taper in much. I have a vinyl tonneau cover with 2 bows and the front is maybe an inch longer than the rear. I agree with Gary, measuring is key. If the middle area of the floor fits between the wheel wells and the rear, wider area fits in the tailgate area, you should be OK. I have to "steer in" too. I back in at a ever so slight angle and once the wider area is inside the tailgate posts, I steer right to square everything up.

I find my 2004 chev is an issue, I just clear rhe tailgate, the fact the box curves is a pain, it makes trying to center while loading very tough as you cannot determine if you are going in straight.